49ers' goal in Denver -- Keep starters injury-free

Published 4:00 am, Friday, August 31, 2001

2001-08-31 04:00:00 PDT Denver -- Ah, the last exhibition warm-up, the only NFL game where the last players shall be first, and the first shall be last.

Quarterback Jeff Garcia, running back Garrison Hearst and maybe a few other players might have to get tickets torn to see tonight's exhibition finale against the Broncos. This is the time when Steve Mariucci goes from coach to curator, preserving his key players so they don't incur a maddening injury days before the start of the regular season.

In a fit of worry a few years ago, Mariucci pulled quarterback Steve Young out of the final tune-up in hopes of evading Murphy's Law.

The starters who will play tonight won't be in there for long, particularly on offense. Mariucci estimates a series at most for players such as wide receiver Terrell Owens and the offensive line.

That doesn't mean this game won't be hard-fought. For those players on the bubble, this could be their last chance to realize their NFL dreams. Final cuts loom Sunday, when the 49ers must trim their roster to 53.

The 49ers might be trim this season, probably paring their roster to 51 or 52 players. Only the

first 51 player salaries count against the $67.4 million salary cap during the exhibition season. But once the regular season starts, the entire 53-man roster and even the four-player practice squad count.

Those teams smashed against the salary cap have been known to carry 51 or 52 players. Only $150,000 under the cap, the 49ers couldn't afford to either field a full roster or a practice squad. The club would need about $418,000 for players 52 and 53, and another $340,000 for the practice squad.

"We have several plans in place," general manager Terry Donahue said. The most logical is to find enough money for a practice squad and play short on the roster.

"It's not utopia," Mariucci said. "But it has been done before." Teams rarely use the last two players, because only 47 players are allowed to play in a given regular-season game.

Going short hurts a team in practice. Coaches say most teams prefer to have 10 offensive linemen so they can rest starters when the scout-team offense practices against the starting defense.

Coaches say forcing a starting lineman to run on both the scout team and the starting offense can burn out a player during the course of a 17-week season. One option is to put a practice-squad defensive lineman on the scout offense -- something Junior Bryant did in 1992-93.

No matter what happens, a man with rolled-up sleeves, a green visor and calculator will be by the coaches' side Sunday when final cuts are made. The team has to find a few hundred-thousand dollars, and the 49ers probably will do it by releasing veterans and replacing them with rookies.

That's why safety Pierson Prioleau probably will need the game of his life tonight to stay on the team. As a third-year player, Prioleau is due to make $389,000. Prioleau graded out poorly against Seattle after giving up three touchdowns.

"I don't have the confidence to say I'm going to make this team," Prioleau said. "I know I'm very much on the bubble."

The 49ers could opt for rookie free-agent safety Al Blades, who has a $209, 000 salary. By making that move alone, the team could save half the money needed for the practice squad.

The team already has started its cost-cutting roster moves by releasing second-year defensive tackle Cedric Killings (salary of $298,000) and then keeping rookie free agent John Schlecht ($209,000).

"You would like not to have your decisions based on money, but on occasion they have to be, because of the way it's set up," defensive coordinator Jim Mora said. "You know it's there. You try not to dwell on it."

RATTAY TO GET START: Quarterback Tim Rattay is scheduled to get his first start of the preseason and likely will play the entire first half tonight. Rick Mirer likely will take over in the second half, coach Steve Mariucci said.

A good performance by Rattay might be enough to win him the No. 2 quarterback job.

"There are a lot of things I need to keep working on," Rattay said. "I need to work on my accuracy and learning reads, the stuff I missed in the last two games."

ONE MORE MOVE: Kick returner David Allen was waived two hours before the team boarded buses for the airport. Allen, an undrafted free agent out of Kansas State, had returned kicks in the first two exhibition games. A foot injury kept him out of last week's game against Seattle. Allen had been the leading return candidate heading into camp. Returning duties in the Denver game would be split between Cedric Wilson and Jimmy Farris, Mariucci said.